All calm on the harpsichord front . . . A good time to introduce a new
question, hopefully starting yet another enthusiastic exchange: this is,
after all, what this list is for! :-)

I don't recall this having been discussed here before (but perhaps it was?).


Let us assume we play a single note on a stringed keyboard: we hold the key
down and eventually we no longer hear the sound  because the vibrations have
fallen below our auditory threshold. This is the "duration" of the note.

On a piano, the louder we play, the longer it takes for the string(s) to get
below our auditory threshold. As a consequence, the piano is able to play
"cantabile" even when playing loud.

On the harpsichord things are different. We play "piano" using only one stop
(one string course). To play louder, we play with two stops, typically
adding the two 8' together. This significantly increases loudness, but much
less so the duration: this is because, as the vibrations of every string
reach the auditory threshold, the vibrations of both together barely help
moving the threshold farther. The consequence is that the sound of a single
stop is more cantabile, while the 8´+8' is more percussive, because it is
(again) very obviously louder but the duration is minimally longer. 

This effect is subtle, yet every single harpsichordist I have asked about
this agrees.

The two things I do not know, and would like to know, are:

1) Was this ever mentioned in any source from the historical harpsichord
era?

2) When was this first mentioned in a modern publication?

Thanks and all the best.

CDV


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